DECC react to peak oil report

The man responsible for planning the country's energy security made a surprise appearance at the launch of a report into peak oil.


‘The Oil Crunch: A wake up call for the UK Economy’ was launched today (February 10) by leading business figures including Sir Richard Branson.

Following the launch of the report, which claims UK oil will peak in five years leaving the country exposed to rising prices, Chris Barton from the Department for Energy and Climate Change gave the government’s side.

Mr Barton said: “We don’t know what the future of oil will be, but we do recognise the risks.

“Some people see peak oil and imminent and high probability threat, others say that demand will peak first.

“We recognise the need to reduce our dependence on oil … we are taking action to reduce our dependence on oil.

“We may need to more than we’ve planned we’re doing some of thing recommended in today’s report but we’re not doing all of them, should we?”

Mr Barton then pledged to work with the report’s authors to ‘examine these issues’.

Luke Walsh

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